Adventure! RPG: Dark Tidings - Chapter 2: Casting A Shadow

[SalmonMax]

Marion steps away from the door and calls to Janos, "I've got the one on the left!"

She automatically opens the Grimoire to a marked page and starts to read in a language that sounds like Latin. The temperature around her plunges suddenly, first wilting the grass and shrubs then glazing them with frost. Her breath puffs out in front of her as a blue-white orb appears in midair over her heart.

With a final gesture, she snaps the Grimoire shut and flings a pointing finger out at the reanimated corpse on the left. The strange ball of cold streaks away from her towards the monster, leaving a twisting wake of tiny snowflakes as it goes!

(Ice Conjuration! Spending 1 Inspiration from the book, with a dice pool of 6 dice. Does 3 Lethal, plus any successes rolled.)

[Count Janos Rakozi]

"Hadova*", Janos mutters when he sees the thing-s come back to life. Missing the trouble that Mia has brought on himself and hearing Marion's call, the nobleman charges back down the steps to the abomination on the right. His attack takes on a ballerina's perfection as the blade dances in his hand. Janos slashes one instance and guards the next, striking with inhuman fury.

{One Attack and one Parry for 13 and 12 dice}

*Crap in Hungarian

[Archibald]

Arch quickly motions for Ben and Catori to the back door, hopeful that they make it out before the policemen enter. Once their outside Arch quickly takes the lead. "You two stand here for a few moments, let me make sure that we got a way out of here, without drawing any unwanted attention." Arch puts a finger to his lips to indicate for the two to remain quite, while at the same time he moves towards the street listening for sounds of any extra policeman that may be left outside Kolya's apartment house.

Using Heighten senses (perception 4, awareness 4)

[Mia Foster]

"Hmmm, didn't know there was anyone home. So sorry - "

Mia turns around at Daphne and Marion's words. "Thing won't stay dead, will it?" She drops the tools of her trade and goes to pull out her pistol again.

[jameson (ST)]

As Daphne bounds forward armed with only the shattered and broken shaft of her spear a azure blue bolt of the coldest ice streaks past her and slams into the creature on the left. Ice creeps over the creature's body and limbs slowing tissue and hissing as it meets vitriolic fluid in the cold winter air. Though slowed the beast continues forward almost unabated as Daphne plants her feet and thrusts with the broken haft. Daemonic bone impacts the rampaging horror even as the thing charges into it. Ice and frozen tissue shatter, exploding with a great crack. What remains are twitching limbs and grasping hands and claws.

Behind them a pop from the small pistol in Mia's hand. The bullet, tiny but accurate pierces necrotic flesh and tumbles. Rotting flesh is pulped into jelly by the kinetic impact and yet the creature scramble forward to meet Janos' counter charge with barely a misstep. Janos's sword screams through the air and for the first time they see a glow of white energy follow the curve of the blade. Snicker snack, Janos' sword cleaves cleanly through the creature once more bifurcating bone and tissue. Acid sizzles and drips off the blade cleanly as though nothing were capable of so much as staining the faintly glowing blade.

And then, before they can fully comprehend the destruction of the nightmare a wall of muscle charges through them. Mia and Marion are tossed aside like dolls as the man, a massive hulk standing well over six feet rockets out the door and toward Janos. His shoulder down like a football linebacker he slams into the slim European and sends him likewise stumbling backward. Undeterred the massive man skids to a stop by the car and throws open the door.

Above them a crash as the second floor window above the porch explodes outward. A figure hits the roof of the stoop in a roll before dropping down to the driveway. "Jager!" he cries as he tumbles to the ground. Cradled in his arms is the box so recently stolen and he heaves it toward the brute even as he falls.

[SalmonMax]

Marion stumbles and falls to her knees as the immense Jager brushes her easily aside. The Grimoire falls from her hand to the ground as she has to catch herself. By coincidence or design, it falls open to a particular page...and before Marion even fully knows what's happening, she's reading the spell on instinct.

She catches a whicker of movement from the corner of her eye, and reacts with unthinking speed...reaching out to point at the box as it hurtles through the air, and as she finishes the spell.

The box never makes it to Jager's hands.

In the blink of an eye, as it traveled between the two men...it vanished without a trace.

[Mia Foster]

Mia slowly stands back up after being tossed aside. "Well, that wasn't nice." She levels her pistol. "So I'm done being nice too. Reach for the sky, you big palooka."

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos' first impulse was to go for the box, but as it disappears in mid-flight, he alters his trajectory to lead him to the man-mountain. He brings his sword down on his head, flat of the blade, in a single swipe hoping to knock him out. His blade is instantly ready for a block as needed. After all, the man is quite large.

"I got this one. Catch the other guy," he calls out.

{Bashing blow - called shot to the head - 10 dice (13-3) to hit for 17(13+4) dice damage. I hope this will knock him out. Parry for 12 dice.}

[Rachel Fiore]

Originally Posted By: Archibald

Arch quickly motions for Ben and Catori to the back door, hopeful that they make it out before the policemen enter. Once their outside Arch quickly takes the lead. "You two stand here for a few moments, let me make sure that we got a way out of here, without drawing any unwanted attention." Arch puts a finger to his lips to indicate for the two to remain quite, while at the same time he moves towards the street listening for sounds of any extra policeman that may be left outside Kolya's apartment house.


Using Heighten senses (perception 4, awareness 4)

Catori nodded quietly to the men not quite sure why they had to hide from the authorities. She decided to ask questions later and let the men do what they thought was right. She would have to talk to Ben later anyways.

[z-Daphne Walton]

Originally Posted By: Count Janos Rakozi

"I got this one. Catch the other guy," he calls out.

Daphne didn't hesitate. "Spot!" she shouted as she lunged for the man who had fallen. The Hellhound joined her as she slammed into the man, her hands trying to grip him.

Unfortunately, Spot didn't use his hands to pin people.

[jameson (ST)]

As the box vanished the fallen man had barely a moment to glare at Marion before Daphne and Spot were bearing down on him. He cried out in an inhuman tongue, "Alberath go'ordrak belchad!" A blast of darkness swallowed the man as though he were never there. Daphne and Spot stumbled through the vapor where once had been a man.

Mia took steps to open her angle on the large man up and limit the chances of Janos tanking a bullet in the back. Janos swung his blade in an arc. Up. Over. Down. *CLANG!* The flat of the blade bounced off the large man's head with the resounding crash of metal on metal. The big man barely grunted. Instead he offered an almost disappointed smile and leapt. In an instant he was on the roof of the house behind them, another leap took him out of sight, down into the street beyond.

[jameson (ST)]

Archibald creeps up to the corner of the building and curses. The taxi was gone. The driver had been all too willing to take a crisp twenty to stay while they spoke to Kolya but the incident with the man apparently killed on the front lawn and the arrival of the police he'd apparently decided that it was more profitable to flee than to wait around. He sticks his head out a little further and spies the policemen entering the house through the front door. Their patrol car sits empty in front of the house however signaling what should be an easy get away.

[SalmonMax]

Marion grabs the Grimoire from where it fell and gets to her feet, wincing as she tests her ankle and wobbling a little on her now loose heel.

"Well, that could definitely have gone worse. I wonder what their hurry was."

She looks back at the house and at the street beyond, wondering uneasily if these two hadn't been fleeing -them- but rather fleeing something even worse.

"Mia, since you're closest would you go look behind that oak tree there? In the bushes just past it. Daphne, do you or Spot sense anything else here? Anything dangerous?"

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos falls back to defend Marion then turns to her somewhat surprised.

"Mia? Maybe I should go looking for trouble."

[SalmonMax]

Marion gives Janos an impish grin.

"She wont' find trouble back there, Janos. At least not of a sort we haven't already found. That's where I sent the box."

[z-Daphne Walton]

Daphne remained crouched, waiting for that creeping sensation that warned her of approaching threats. After she felt nothing, she shook her head at Marion. "Nothing now. Have holy water?" At the quizzical look she received, she pointed at the two creatures. "Holy water kill maybe. Not get back up."

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos snaps a quick look to Daphne and grins.

"I'll make a point of getting some more the next time I have a chance."

Maybe the girl was a bit crazy, but then again, maybe she was on to something. It wasn't like that thing was remotely human any more.

[Mia Foster]

Mia gives Janos a frosty look. "Yeah, not a chance, buster. I can take care of myself, thank you."

Mia sets off to retrieve the box. "So what kinda guy goes 'clang, clang' when you hit him in the head?"

[SalmonMax]

"A trolley?" Marion asks wryly, then shakes her head. "No, sorry. There's all kinds of possibilities, but the fact is that I don't know. There are ways to animate metal, even to cloak it in illusion, but the way he moved and seemed intelligent makes that unlikely."

"We need to regroup and compare notes. Lets get back to the hotel."

[Rachel Fiore]

Originally Posted By: jameson (ST)

Archibald creeps up to the corner of the building and curses. The taxi was gone. The driver had been all too willing to take a crisp twenty to stay while they spoke to Kolya but the incident with the man apparently killed on the front lawn and the arrival of the police he'd apparently decided that it was more profitable to flee than to wait around. He sticks his head out a little further and spies the policemen entering the house through the front door. Their patrol car sits empty in front of the house however signaling what should be an easy get away.

Catori nodded towards the empty car preparing herself for a sprint to freedom. She took a few steps away from Archibald but remained in the shadows. There should be enough space for the others to follow her but she wouldn’t go first. Kneeling down she sheathed her dagger again and forced herself to breath calmly visualising her escape route. Hopefully no one would get hurt on their attempt to get away.

[Archibald]

Arch briefly entertained the thought of taking the police car to aid in their escape, before more rational thinking took it's place in his head. "All right, you two the coast is clear, the plan is to re group at the hotel, so in case we get separated." Arch heads out quickly and with a purposeful stride away from the house and off towards the hotel.

[jameson (ST)]

And just like that the three of them walked calmly away from Kolya's house. Despite having to walk nearly a mile in the cold Archibald, Catori, and Ben still returned to the hotel ahead of the others. What they found was a pair of ransacked rooms the safe that had held the dark shard of the Heart was torn from the wall and ripped open as though it were papier-mâché. They had little time to ponder a course of action however as the others soon returned. Chilled by the cold winds and Daphne and Spot both showing makeshift bandages the group stumbled into the rooms behind Janos and Marion who was clutching the box containing the recovered shard as though it might well grow legs and flee of its own accord.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Flushed from his exertions, Janos looks over the other three.

"I take it you ran across something then? Ms. Catori, could you check on Daphne ... and Spot. We had a bit of trouble with one of their Creatures. Thanks to Ms. Marion's quick wits, we were able to retrieve the shard though."

Janos remains close to Marion and on guard to whatever might come out of the closets, or the corners of the walls.

[Rachel Fiore]

Catori nodded quietly and even smiled briefly at the Count, then she focused her attention on Daphne and Spot. Trying to get Daphne's eyes Catori waited for Daphne's approval to inspect and eventually remove the bandages.

"I will take care of Spot once I'm done with your wounds."

(ooc: Medicine-roll and if necessary I use my 'magic touch' to instantly heal the wound)

[SalmonMax]

Marion watches Catori for a moment, making no move to put the Shard's box down. Then she looks over at Archibald and her brother.

"Did your outing go as smoothly as ours?" she asks wryly.

[Rachel Fiore]

"We encountered the evil spirit. A dead body animated as assassin. But he was just a puppet of the evil spirit.", said Catori while she prepared herself to treat Daphne's wounds.

[z-Daphne Walton]

Daphne shook her head and pulled away from Catori. "Spot first," she said, locking her jaw and setting her dark eyes on the other woman firmly. She looked like she expected an argument, and was prepared to defend her stance.

[SalmonMax]

"Hm, we had something like that ourselves," Marion observes. "As well as a man who could magically vanish, and another man who seemed to have metal bones."

She looks around the ruined room.

"We got the shard back, but the two men escaped. We probably ought to call the police as well. It'll look suspicious if we don't."

An odd expression appears on Marion's face abruptly...a startled, surprised expression. She looks down at the box in her arms and holds it out suddenly.

"That's odd."

Holding it in one hand, she opens the lid to peek inside.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos rolls his eyes,

"For Pity's Sake, don't tell me they hoodwinked us and they have the stone."

[Lee Deity]

Ben looked a little worried at Marion's actions, but decided to continue relaying events. "I think we might have another piece of the puzzle though," he said as he grabbed the container. "Our assassin seemed to want his hands on it, going so far as to attack my friend Kolya. Poor assassin, didn't know what he was getting into. My friend... acquired it from a museum, we'll have to do some reading when we get back to see what it's significance is."

"Also had a rather interesting chat with the assassin, which I must say didn't fill me with great joy, but didn't really give me a great deal of pertinent information about their plans either..."

[Rachel Fiore]

Originally Posted By: Daphne Walton

Daphne shook her head and pulled away from Catori. "Spot first," she said, locking her jaw and setting her dark eyes on the other woman firmly. She looked like she expected an argument, and was prepared to defend her stance.

Catori sighed briefly and knelt down to inspect Spot. She knew it was futile to start an argument with Daphne about whom to treat first. She felt responsible for her companion and if she was strong enough to endure the pain she would do fine waiting a few minutes longer.

Reaching into her small hip bag Catori took out some leaves and put them in her mouth. While she chewed the leaves she removed Spot's bandages and focused on the task at hand. Broken bones would take a good deal of her power and she knew that mending it wouldn't go without significant pain. With quick routine Catori applied the paste which she had produced by chewing the leaves and taking a fresh bandage out of her bag she tried to move the broken bone back to its position. "This may hurt a little.", she said to Daphne hoping that the girl would help her keep the hellhound calm. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated on the forces of nature and healing while her hands slowly started to glow with a green hue.

Droplets of sweat appeared on her forehead and it was obvious that mending bones seemed to be taking a lot out of her.

Catori wiped the sweat from her forehead and removed Daphne's bandage with the same quick routine and applied the leftovers of the paste she had in her mouth. Then she repeated the procedure. After she was done she had to shake off some dizzyness and sat down catching her breath.

After she had gathered herself she looked at Ben and looked very concerned. "I fear that we are against an greater evil than any of us can imagine."

[jameson (ST)]

Marion peers into the box and finds it just as before, lined with black velvet and silk with a small pillow in the center. The shard however has fallen off the pillow and into the corner of the box where it is vibrating gently which in turn has set the box to shaking.

[z-Daphne Walton]

As Catori moved to work on Spot, Daphne reached out and put a hand on the hellhound's head. When Catori touched him, he growled. Daphne immediately tighened her hand and hissed at him. He went silent and remained so as Catori finished up. Then it was Daphne's turn.

Daphne nodded at Catori, acknowledging her effort. Marion hadn't managed to completely convince her to say thank you yet, so a grateful nod and a smile was all Catori got.

"Why it shaking?" she asked Marion, looking from her to the shard. "What did they do to it?"

[SalmonMax]

Marion's at a loss for words as she watches it.

"I...don't know."

She reaches in to grab the shard, meaning to move it back onto the pillow.

[Archibald]

"Ben, could it be possible that the bowl is causing a reaction from the shard?" Arch asks rather quickly.

[SalmonMax]

"No," Marion says suddenly, her voice resigned.

"Not the bowl. Look inside that urn and tell me what's there."

[jameson (ST)]

Marion grasps the shard, its smooth cool surface vibrates in her hand almost tugging it toward Ben and the urn. Ben for his part looks in the urn and shakes his head. Turning it upside down nothing falls out. As he handles the object he too notices that it has begun to vibrate slightly and seems to be tugging toward the shard in Marion's hand. Closer inspection of the urn shown faint worn carvings and symbols as well as raised artwork but no sign of a hidden compartment or false bottom.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos feels the sword at his back, wondering if he is going to feel a vibration in the blade, perhaps something in opposition to the fell forces present here. He remembers the arch of energy his sword had shown when fighting the beast and it troubled him. What could it mean?

[SalmonMax]

Marion frowned for a moment, then shrugged.

"It could be baked into the clay, I suppose..." she murmured. "Ben can you read the markings on that pot? Also...where did you get it? Do you know what it's called?"

[jameson (ST)]

Janos finds the blade cool and silent in its sheath. Whatever the display of power had been earlier the sword is silent now. Despite this as soon as his hand is on the blade's hilt he feels more calm and reassured as though drawing mental and spiritual strength from the deep well within the blade itself.